First Steps
by Valentine Requiem
Summary: He keeps telling himself that he'll find a new cafe. A quiet one. One without nosy waitresses who interrupt his work and keep him from getting any writing done whatsoever. An AU collection of aurikku drabbles.
1. first steps

_The first of god-knows-how-many in a series of AU drabbles centering around Auron and Rikku. It was mostly written because this fandom is just filled with so much angst and oh god I can't cope. Enjoy your fluff, and please be aware that the rating for this fic will likely go up eventually. This fic is also available on my ao3 and tumblr accounts as well. Enjoy!_

* * *

Rikku adjusts her messenger bag over her shoulder. She's used to the feel of the heavy books weighing down on her, but coupling that with the six block walk from campus to the tiny cafe where she picks up shifts after classes was really starting to kick her ass.

"I'm so out of shape," Rikku whines to no one in particular. She's running late again _(because when is she not?)_ and there hadn't been time to stop off at her dorm to unload her bag before work. She half considers just dumping the heavy textbooks out and calling it a day, but the ridiculous amount of gil she'd had to spend on them-even second hand- holds her back.

The sun beats down the back of her neck as she walks. She reaches back and brushes away tiny pinpricks of sweat, moving her mass of unruly blonde hair to the side to air off her skin. I'm nearly there, Rikku tells herself. Just one more block. She imagines sitting in the back of the house, plopped down in the freezer where they kept the pastry dough and fruit fresh. Out of the sun, out of the heat, and certainly not weighed down by ten pounds and six hundred gil's worth of _Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics._

Pushing open the door to Bean and Gone Cafe, Rikku steps inside and waves to her cousin, who's just finished ringing up a customer. Yuna offers Rikku a smile as she approaches.

The cafe is small but well kept, brightly lit with a quiet atmosphere. The walls are painted a soft creamy yellow and bear pictures of the city hanging in colorful frames. There's a wide counter and bakery display against the far wall, which is where Yuna is currently situated.

"Salvation!" Rikku moans as she feels the cool breeze of the air conditioner sweep over her.

Yuna's smile widens when Rikku slumps behind the counter and drops her bag with an unceremonious thump. "You could always get a bike," she offers.

"But bikes are no fun," Rikku immediately shoots back. She glances at the clock above their work station, and is beyond relieved to see that she has a whole five minutes before her shift starts. She settles down on the floor beside her bag, out of sight from any of the shop's patrons, and lets herself relax.

Yuna brings her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. "What's wrong with bikes? I have a bike."

"They don't make any noise, for one. And you can only go as fast as you can move your legs, which is totally not cool." Rikku's eyes are trained on the clock as she speaks. She watches each tick of the second hand with rapt attention. Two minutes now.

Yuna rolls her eyes. She nudges the blonde with one foot, and Rikku lets out a squeal. "Go on and get up. Table three needs a refill."

Rikku groans but reluctantly clambers to her feet. "Alright, alright." She brushes off the backs of her shorts and grabs a mostly full coffee pot off the counter. Table three is on the other side of the room, a little corner table next to a window. There's only one person sitting there, a solitary looking man currently typing away on his laptop. He's a regular, she thinks, but doesn't know much about him other than that. The man's cup is placed near the edge of the table and Rikku can see that it's empty.

"You're not drinking decaf, are you?" Rikku asks as she approaches, holding up the coffee pot. The man barely glances at her before returning to his typing.

"No," he says shortly.

"Oh great," Rikku chirps. She doesn't appear daunted by the man's unsociable nature and pours a steady stream of coffee into his mug. He nods towards the waitress and offers her his quiet thanks.

He doesn't say anything else. Rikku sets the pot down and regards him curiously. "What's your name?"

He raises an eyebrow at her, staring sardonically from behind his glasses. Who wears sunglasses indoors? Rikku can't help but wonder. She crosses her arms and gives him her best return-eyebrow-raise, and the man eventually responds, apparently at a loss.

"Auron."

Rikku grins. She sweeps the coffee pot up off the table and gives him a cheeky smile. "See now, that wasn't so hard. I'm Rikku!"

The man grunts noncommittally. He's lost all interest in their conversation at this point, and has gone back to quietly typing. Rikku frowns, itching to hop closer and force him to look at her, maybe bonk him on the head a little, but management has been over this before with her (multiple times, in fact) and apparently bonking customers on the head is a strict _no-no._

Which is extremely unfortunate, because some of them desperately deserve it.

She thinks that if only she weren't at work she'd give him a big piece of her mind. Because she was just trying to make conversation, who did he think he was anyway, and it's not like it'd kill him to _smile._

"This isn't over," Rikku grumbles after she's back behind the front counter. She sets the coffee pot back down perhaps just a tad too hard, making its contents nearly slosh out even with the lid.

Not by a long shot.


	2. disaster in bloom

He keeps telling himself that he'll find a new cafe. A quiet one. One without nosy waitresses who interrupt his work and keep him from getting any writing done whatsoever. He has no idea how the hell the sizing system at Starbucks works (how is coffee tall? why can't they just give him a damn chart?), but it couldn't be all that hard to learn.

He keeps telling himself this, all the way up until the little bell above the front door of Bean and Gone chimes and he walks inside.

She's already there, because of _course_ , why wouldn't she be. He watches her without realizing it as she darts around the cafe, clearing tables and chatting with customers. Auron tears his gaze away and busies himself with his work.

He's just starting to immerse himself in his writing when she finally makes her way to his table. Rikku stops in front of him, regarding the man with one hand cocked on her hip.

"Don't you have a job?" She asks.

Auron glances up at her briefly. "Is that how you greet customers now?"

"Just you," The girl replies. "My question still stands, Grumpy."

Auron sighs. "This is my job."

Rikku blinks at the older man with surprise. "You can get paid to sit and brood over coffee now? What the heck am I going to college for?"

"I'm a writer," Auron tells her, resigned to the fact that the overly plucky waitress isn't going to leave him alone until her curiosity is sated. "I write things. Preferably in places with lots of peace and _quiet_." He puts perhaps a little too much emphasis on the last word, which is completely lost on the girl.

Rikku rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet, and her eyes regard him brightly. She's intrigued in spite of herself, and cranes her neck to try and get a good look at the screen. "Whatcha writin', then?"

Auron angles his laptop away, fighting a losing battle against his own amusement. "A book."

"What kind of book?" the girl presses on, completely undaunted.

"The sort people read."

Rikku huffs. "I am getting the distinct feeling that you're avoiding my questions."

"Don't you have a table to bus?"

Rikku spread her arms, indicating the currently pristine condition of the cafe. "Nope," she responds cheekily. "Not a one."

Later he'll wonder why it never crossed his mind to complain, or even just walk out and find some place quieter to do his writing. Because he doesn't—Auron stays sitting at his table for another two hours, being intermittently pestered by the young woman when she's in between tables. She bounces around while refilling his cup and offers suggestions for his writing (are there monkeys? No? You should add monkeys), and prattles on about everything from her schoolwork to how much she can't stand her room mate.

"See you tomorrow!" Rikku says with a wave when he leaves. And Auron fights not to smile, because he knows she probably will.


	3. intrepid

"Yunie I'm bored." Rikku is slumped against the counter and staring forlonely up at her cousin. Her bottom lip juts out in a comically pathetic display, and Yuna's lips press together in a tight line as she tries not to laugh.

"I'm sorry about that," the brunette replies lightly. "Why don't you do some cleaning?"

The younger girl groans. "No, Yunie, no. I don't think you've really grasped the concept of fun yet. We'll need to work on this at some point." Her eyes sweep across the nearly empty cafe, hungry for something to occupy her mind for the remaining two hours until closing time. Rikku was almost beginning to wish she'd brought one of her her god-knows-how-many-pounds textbooks with her that day. At least she would have had something to keep herself preoccupied during the slow hours. It's seven p.m. on a Tuesday, and apparently everyone in the city has better things to do than sit inside and nibble on croissants.

That is, everyone except for the small group of teenagers discussing their own badly written poetry near the foyer, or the elderly woman who'd just purchased three pieces of black forest cake.

And, of course, there was Grumpy himself, typing away in the same corner as always. Rikku half thinks they should start charging him rent.

"How often does that guy come in here?" Rikku asks, motioning towards Auron.

Yuna's eyes follow the other girl's line of sight. "Oh, him? A few times a week. He's always very polite."

Rikku shoots her a look, wondering if they're actually discussing the same person. She drums her fingers on the table and considers the man.

"Huh, cup's empty again," Rikku says. "You'd think this guy _lives_ on coffee or something."

Yuna is busy writing up new price stickers for the items inside the bakery case. "So bring him a refill?"

Rikku scoffs, waving one hand at her cousin. "You act like I'm a waitress or something."

"Rikku."

The blonde is laughing now, and already reaching for the coffee pot. "Kidding! Those fun lessons are gonna have to come sooner than I thought." She dances away before Yuna can reply, grateful that the lid is keeping the pot's contents from sloshing all over her.

"Hiya, Auron," Rikku says as she approaches the older man's table. He looks up at her and she grins, holding up the coffee pot.

"Good evening," he replies—somewhat stiffly, in Rikku's opinion—and adds 'thank you' as an after thought when she reaches for his mug.

"Would you like anything else?" Rikku asks while pouring. "We've got sandwiches and stuff, and the desserts are really yummy too."

"No thank you."

"You sure? Because there's pie. I don't know if you were aware of this, but I'm going to assume not because how can someone be aware of pie and not want pie?"

Auron stares.

"...it's blueberry?" Rikku offers, shrinking under his gaze.

"I'm fine with this," he replies decisively, with a nod towards his cup. "Thanks."

Auron thinks he's seen the last of her for the day when she leaves his table and bounces back up to the counter, and he would have been right—except she comes back a half hour later to drop off his tab, and before he can say anything she places a napkin wrapped scone next to his laptop and scurries away like a bat out of hell.

He eats it. Of course he eats it, it would have been rude not to. As the taste of sugar and blueberries fill his mouth, Auron happens to glance down at the napkin, and sees a big, wobbly smiley face sketched down under the crumbs.


	4. bum rush

Rikku sits by the window, watching as the rain pounds against the sidewalk outside in heavy waves. Rainy days were normally good for business. People liked to come in and watch it drizzle outside, sipping on cups of coffee or cocoa while pretending to look pensive.

This was no cute shower, though, but a crazy freaking storm—albeit one which was thankfully free of thunder and lightning, either of which would have sent Rikku cowering beneath the table. Regardless, no one wanted to go anywhere during a crazy freaking storm.

She doesn't even have anyone to pass the time with because she's working alone that evening. She'd already sent texts to every single person on her contacts list, but apparently they all had better things to do than entertain her, because her phone stayed silent. So Rikku just sits at her table and watches the street in case anyone approaches, knowing she'll likely be alone for the rest of her shift. Even Grumpy wasn't there that day, and he practically spent half his life in that booth towards the back.

Auron had been creeping into her thoughts lately, more than she cared to admit. Rikku found herself looking forward to seeing him on days when she was scheduled to work. She'd think up new ways to pester him when she was bored in class, and a growing portion of her shifts was becoming devoted to trying to sneak a peek at whatever he was writing that day. Rikku still has no idea what sort of stories he wrote, or even if he's any good. She hopes his genre of choice is something deliciously scandalous; steamy bodice rippers, perhaps. The kind of books whose covers featured women with their hair blowing in the wind, and where the men were forever shirtless.

It makes her laugh out loud just thinking about it. The bell above the door jingles while she's laughing, and for a moment her heart skips a beat because she's sure it must be him.

It isn't. It's a bedraggled looking businesswoman trying to get out of the rain, and Rikku gets up to offer her some towels and a hot cup of tea.

Later, when the woman is gone and she's left alone again, Rikku muses on what that skipped beat had meant. When she looks back on this night she'll mark it as the first time she admitted to herself that her feelings for the ornery writer went further than 'he's fun to mess with'.

She returns to her seat in front of the window. "Huh," Rikku says to herself as the rain begins to slow. "Well I'll be damned."


	5. highroad winds

Rikku squints while regarding her reflection. The mirror is held up with what appears to be copious amounts of ductape, courtesy of her dorm's strict no-nails-in-the-wall policy. She poses this way and that, making faces and tugging the hem of her sweater down all the while. It's two sizes too large and makes her feel like she's drowning in soft, comfy cashmere.

She'd put off unpacking her fall clothing for weeks now. The weather had been growing conspicuously colder as the days wore on, and Rikku had no choice but to face the inevitable.

Fall had arrived. Time to put on some pants.

Well. Pants being a relative term, of course. Rikku finally nods in approval, clicking the heels of her boots together and admiring the chocobo patterns on her leggings. She'd had to order them offline special, and had mostly done it to prove a point to Yuna that yes, they had to exist _somewhere_. But they were stretchy, and they were comfy, and they were the closest thing to not-pants she could wear this time of year without freezing her skinny little tush off.

She notices her phone lighting up as she slings her messenger bag over her shoulder, and digs it out. Bubbles fly across the screen as she swipes to the side and sees a new text from her cousin.

 _working late tonight :(_

Rikku smiles and heads out into the hall. Her thumbs flutter across her phone, sending a message back before she even reaches the stairs.

 _srry for you :) want company?_

She had planned to stop by the little deli just off of campus for dinner, but the cafe was only a little bit farther away. It's a Friday night, and Rikku wonders if Auron will be there. She tries to brush the thought away, telling herself it doesn't matter, but it sticks in her head, stubborn and insistent. Just like him.

They'd never run into each other when she wasn't on the clock. Rikku can't help but wonder if he even _goes_ anywhere besides her little coffee shop. Maybe he's just some caffeine addicted hermit who only crawls out of his cave every few days to take advantage of their free refill policy.

 _Yes_ , she thinks as she steps out into the fading autumn light. _That's definitely it._

Yuna texts her back saying that of course she doesn't have to feel obligated to come, but her company would be greatly appreciated. At least, that's what Rikku interprets the little :-) face to mean. She sucks in a lung full of air and pulls her sweater more tightly against her frame. Leaves crunch and crackle beneath her feet as she walks. Rikku wonders if it's unseemly to enjoy the sound as much as she does. She decides she doesn't care either way, and makes sure to stomp extra hard the next time her foot comes down.

Rikku arrives at the coffee shop ten minutes later, entering with a flourish as the bell chimes overhead.

"Waitress!" She cries, one arm outstretched towards her cousin. "I require...muffins!"

Half the shop turns to stare at her. Rikku's stomach does a weird sort of flip flop when she notices that Auron is one of them. She shoots him a grin and gives a cheerful little wave, biting back the twinge of uncertainty with a bubbliness that would have seemed forced on anybody else.

She turns back to Yuna, who is still chuckling over her cousin's exaggerated entrance.

"Do you actually want muffins, or do I have to break out the serving utensils?" The brunette teases as she approaches the register.

Rikku grins good naturedly and leans against the counter. "I meant what I said! Gimme two of your most chocolatiest chocolaty muffins. How's your shift going?"

Yuna rings her up while replying. "Not too bad," she admits. "It's been steady enough. Are you really going to eat two muffins?"

Rikku sticks her tongue out. "Don't you judge me, Yunie."

She hangs around the register and chats with her cousin for another couple of minutes, reluctantly backing away when actual customers approach the counter. She gives Yuna a little half wave before turning around and making her way towards the seats.

Auron had long since funneled his attention back to his laptop after her initial outburst. Rikku sits down in the seat across from him without any sort of introduction and pushes one of the muffins towards him.

"I come bearing subsistence, oh grumpy one."

The corner of his lip twitches upwards just the slightest bit. At least, she _thinks_ it does.

He regards the chocolate lump of muffiny goodness with suspicion. Rikku huffs and takes a bite of her own, relishing the taste. "I don't know what they were teaching in health classes back in the stone age, but you can't actually live off of caffeine alone."

"I need sugar as well, do I?" he shoots back, but accepts her offering without much of a fight.

"Yup!" The blonde chirps back. She leans back in her seat and makes herself at home. "Otherwise you'll never get any writing done."

Auron quirks an eyebrow at the younger woman. "I love how you think my lack of sugar intake is what keeps me from getting any writing done."

Rikku refuses to take the bait. He's in a good mood, apparently _(she hadn't known that good moods and Auron were things that could coexist)_ and doesn't want to ruin it.

"I'll be good," she says while batting her eyes. "Won't be distractin' at all! Promise. Pinky swear, even."

He grunts, which Rikku takes as a sign that he's accepted her presence- at least temporarily. She nibbles on her muffin and watches him type. His eyes seem more intense when he's writing, and she finds herself outright staring before long. Rikku silently admonishes herself and tries to focus on other things. She takes another, bigger bite out of her muffin, and beings to sing the lyrics to a popular new pop song inside her head. She kicks her feet a little, swaying side to side with the nonexistent music.

Auron sighs. Rikku cringes, expecting the most sarcastic of barbs, but her surprises her by closing his laptop and staring at her.

"What do you want?" He asks, and Rikku is surprised to find that he seems genuinely baffled.

 _Good question, Grumpy,_ she thinks. The girl shrugs, seemingly at a loss herself. She hadn't really thought this through very well.

"I thought maybe we could...you know. Talk." He stares at her noncommittally, and Rikku adds "About stuff."

"Stuff," Auron repeats dryly.

It was a stupid answer. She knew it was stupid before she even opened her mouth, but thinking before speaking was just such an un-Rikku like thing to do, and she had a reputation to uphold.

"Yeah, stuff." Rikku says again, with a confidence she doesn't feel. "Any kind of stuff. Things you like, things you don't like, things that make you think. You know. Stuff."

Auron pauses, seeming to think. Rikku twiddles her thumbs underneath the table, desperate to work off some of the nervous energy coursing through her wiry frame. Nearly a minute passes by, and she's just about convinced herself that he's not going to speak again when he surprises her again.

"You're a student," he states more than asks. "What are you studying?"

Rikku perks up immediately, rattling off info about her in-progress degree in mechanical engineering, which soon turns into a discussion of some about what classes she's taking. While there isn't nearly as much blowing things up as she'd hoped there'd be, the classes are still interesting enough to keep her attention. She has long since finished off the remnants of her own muffin, and pulls Auron's half finished one towards her without even thinking. She asks him if he's added any monkeys to his story yet, mouth full of chocolate and more chocolate. He informs her in no uncertain terms that no, he has _not_ , and Rikku thinks to herself that she'll need to work on that.

The sun sets without her realizing it. It's not until Auron adjusts his glasses and looks towards the window that she notices the darkness outside. She remembers belatedly that she'd come to keep Yuna company, and turns around to give her cousin an apologetic little wave. Yuna raises her eyebrows at her in a way that screams _we'll-talk-about-this-later_ , and Rikku has no idea how she'll explain herself.

Auron begins packing up his laptop while she's busy staring. "I should get going," he tells her quietly. Rikku turns her attention back to the older man, trying to gauge whether she'd finally driven him off. She doesn't think so, but this guy was so goddamned hard to read, she couldn't be sure.

"Yeah? Alrighty then." Rikku smiles and tilts her head to the side, trying to sound cheerful in spite of her disappointment. She knows it's silly, and no matter how much she jokes about him living in the corner booth he doesn't _actually_ sleep here, but she's sad all the same. "I'll see you next time, alright?"

Her heart skips a beat when he smiles. At least she thinks it's a smile- it flashes across his face for the span of time it takes for her chest to flutter, and then vanishes. "Next time," he replies quietly, and slings his laptop over his shoulder.

Rikku watches him leave the cafe. She lets out an audible sigh when the door closes behind him, bell tinkling lightly throughout the shop. She glances down and flicks a stray crumb off of the napkin she'd set his muffin on. Rikku looks at the door again and bites her lip.

"Hey Yunie?" She's out of her seat before she can think about it, craning her neck over the serving station. "Do you have a pen I can borrow?"

Yuna regards the other girl dubiously. "By borrow, do you mean take and never return?"

"Duh," Rikku shoots back. Her face contorts, bottom lip jutting out pleadingly. "I mean. Pleaaaase?"

Yuna sighs. She hands her a cheap dollar store pen- Rikku wasn't trusted with the nice, office quality pens- and the blonde bolts.

"You're welcome!" she can hear Yuna saying as she exits the shop.

Rikku hurriedly scribbles something down on the napkin as she glances around on the sidewalk. She sees a red clad figure nearing the end of the block, and darts off towards him. "Hey, old man!" she yells, waving one arm in the air. Auron startles and turns around, and Rikku just manages to stop herself short of crashing into him.

"What is it now?" He asks, regarding the panting girl as if she's some sort of alien species.

She holds out the napkin, beaming. "I like you!" Rikku announces, to both of them, really. Because she does. She really, really does, and maybe realizing that had taken a while, but whatever. "So you should call me or something." She'd written her number down in scraggly handwriting on top of the crumpled napkin, and had even gone to the trouble of shaking off most of the crumbs.

Auron accepts the napkin, and pockets it after glancing at what was written there. "Has anyone ever told you that you're an extremely odd girl?" He asks, sounding amused. At least, as amused as someone in a perpetual state of grump could manage to be.

"Mm-hmmm." Rikku replies, still grinning. "All the time. Have a good night, okay?"

"You too," he replies. Rikku can feel his eyes on her as she turns around, heading back towards her dorm. She's still smiling even when another cold autumn breeze brushes past her, and hugs her sweater tighter to herself.

* * *

 **A/N:** I wanted to take the time to apologize to any readers about the time it took me to update this. School, sick, blah blah. All that jazz. Much thanks to **darkerthanshadow** , **CupofTeaforAliceandHatter** , and **Nevergonnafindme** for their kind words over the past few submissions. I half thought I'd be writing this for my own personal fluff therapy, so it was a pleasant surprise to find others still like this pairing as well. To everyone else, thanks for reading, and I hope this was worth the wait!


End file.
